2014 Poseidon Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir

TASTING NOTES
This offering is bright, vibrant and darkly hued in the glass. The aromas hint at dark cherries steeped with clove and nutmeg as well as plums at the peak of the season, when they burst open with darkly colored juice and flavor. The essence of these aromatics is also present in the mouth. The wine tastes dark, meaty and bold and carries a lot of extract, which is assuredly a result of the drought growing conditions in 2014. More delicate flavors of rhubarb and raspberries do contribute, but it's as if they were baked together in a cinnamon crust. This soft yet textured wine will please the earnest taster and will further reward the patient one after some time in the bottle.

HISTORY
Poseidon Vineyard, located at the confluence of the Carneros Creek and the Napa River, was originally planted in 1973 by the Molnar Family to the Burgundian varietals: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The maritime environment of the Carneros grape growing season delivers cool, foggy mornings followed by warm days that slowly nurture ripening.

VINTAGE
Drought led conversations all over the farmlands and vineyards of California in early 2014. However, strong, compact rains in February and March helped secure a solid growing season for the vines through spring and early summer. The size of our crop was minimally affected, but it was slightly lower than the previous two years. During harvest, there were no extreme heat waves, which helped moderate ripening. The tricky issue was that, with the record-breaking drought, the vines ripened fruit earlier than ever before. Most of our varietals were ripening at the same time in early September and it felt odd to be picking Cabernet Sauvignon alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Timing aside, the modest temperatures of late summer and fall offered us the luxury of picking at optimum ripeness.

WINEMAKING
Though painstaking, we harvested the three blocks of the hillside (top, skirt, bottom) separately, picking across the three Dijon clones: 115, 667, and 777. We kept the fermentation temperatures low to retain the fruit’s liveliness. As soon as the fermentations were complete, the wines were pressed gently into 100% Kádár Tokaj oak, adding a signature spiciness to the blend that complements the fruit character. Racked only once before bottling, the result is a very pure, fruit-filled expression of Pinot Noir.

Alex Beloz, Winemaker